A wireless local area network (WLAN) in infrastructure basic service set (BSS) mode may have an access point (AP) for the BSS and one or more stations (STAs) associated with the AP. The AP may access or interface with a distribution system (DS) or another type of wired or wireless network that carries traffic in and out of the BSS. Traffic to STAs that originate from outside the BSS may be delivered through the AP. Traffic originating from STAs to destinations outside the BSS may be sent by the AP to the respective destinations. Traffic between STAs within the BSS may be sent through the AP where the source STA may send traffic to the AP and the AP delivers the traffic to the destination STA. Such traffic between STAs within the BSS may be referred to as peer-to-peer traffic.
Peer-to-peer traffic routed through the AP may be inefficient. For example, the traffic may be sent from the source STA to the AP and then from the AP to the destination STA, thereby sending the same information twice. Each transmission may entail medium access overhead, which may therefore also be incurred twice. It would therefore be desirable to have a method and apparatus for setting up and operating an efficient peer-to-peer communication.